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Jamesrhblack

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  1. Jamesrhblack
    Great review for Alexander Campbell and Gary Avis though....
  2. Jamesrhblack
    Although one presumes Sarah Lamb is rehearsing Juliet with a Romeo...
  3. Jamesrhblack
    What a beautiful dancer. Just been watching some YouTube clips of Giselle (with Nunez) and Beauty and Quixote (with Rojo). We will be the poorer without him.
  4. Jamesrhblack
    I can see the logic of the Hristov suggestion. I thought he was great in Winter's Tale and am surprised, to some extent, that he hasn't progressed further if not in ranking then in terms of more regular principal performances. However, he'd surely not be given the furst night and broadcast so if that is to go to an existing and established Romeo it seems almost inevitable that one Romeo will dance with two Juliets. I really can't see management wanting to take one Romeo out and reassign his performances. Although I think Bonelli the most likely replacement, it has been pointed out elsewhere that he has broadcast this role before and that Lamb also dances well with McRae who has additionally what it is simplistic but perhaps true to describe as name presence and clout. I could see why he might take over although his first performance with Salenko are very close too.
  5. Jamesrhblack
    Scenarios? It's just not going to happen that Campbell (who I like very much) would be asked to do the broadcast and I don't think he'd work well physically with Lamb anyway, who will surely have a say in what happens. 1) So, Golding (who management seem to like and trust whatever the thoughts of some on this Forum) promoted to first cast and does broadcast. Watson drafted in to dance with Hayward after Manon success last season. Complicating factor - Watson taken out of R & J this season whether at his or management's instigation. 2) Golding promoted to first cast, and continues to dance with Hayward. There seems to be a decent gap between performances to allow fresh rehearsals and he is experienced and a strong partner. 3) Golding promoted to first cast and another debutant brought in to dance with Hawyard (Campbell?). Complicating factor, management not over keen, understandably, on too much switching of advertised casts especially as O'Hare now delaying much longer in announcing them to ensure a realistic chance of seeing cast booked. Also, it seems that they want to enhance Hayward's status and boost her security by casting her opposite principals (Watson, Muntagirov, Golding)... 4) Most likely, Bonelli does the broadcast as an experienced dancer who works well with Lamb. Other casting unchanged....
  6. Jamesrhblack
    This does seem very sudden. I realise he had had quite a lot of time out with injury and that, despite the kudos, of the cinema Romeo, future casting wasn't looking very inspiring for him, a point on which somebody else commented when the casting was announced. I believe he and Sarah Lamb had asked to work together more after their success in Manon and it had looked as if, despite a seeming resistance to establishing regular partnerships, this was happening as they were cast together in Giselle, Nutcracker and Romeo. I guess, with a cinema broadcast involved, the initial question is whether there will be some juggling around of existing Romeos or if a chance will be taken. If that chance is considered too risky so early in the new season will there be a rethink as the season progresses or will Ms Lamb's senior status preclude a new partnership with a younger dancer (and apart from Matthew Ball and Reece Clarke who else is there?). I'll be sorry to see Rupert Pennefather leave: I still remember that first Beliaev, his first Siegfried with Cuthbertson (and the lovely accompanying masterclass video) and how unexpectedly powerful his Rudolf was. He wasn't necessarily a dancer I would book to see but I was always very pleased to see him and I think his virtues of elegant understatement may well have meant he was a little underestimated too.
  7. Jamesrhblack
    To be fair, I thought Heap was absolutely brilliant in DGV and was sorry that my own commitments meant I couldn't see her as Carmen....
  8. Jamesrhblack
    However, Choe and Hay are in both Rhapsody and Pigeons,...
  9. Jamesrhblack
    You always write so intelligently Floss and I invariably agree with almost everything you state. Watson is in the new Wheeldon, and I am inclined to think his absence from Romeo, like Morera's from Rhapsody and Soares' from Nutcracker is quite as much to do with a move area from civil service casting towards what management and / or the dancer concerned feels appropriate / comfortable. The absence of Marquez seems different, as I think others have sensed. She doesn't dance the fullest range of the company's work yet was featured on the cover of About the House when Giselle was last performed and has had cinema relays of Fille and Nutcracker. The dissolving of her partnership with McRae is sad as they seemed to work so well together and it is particularly unfortunate that it seems that she is being replaced, and at what expense (?), by somebody who is now a Principal Guest Artist in all but name. She was delightful in Don Q and Fille with Alexander Campbell, and they evidently enjoyed great rapport, but the Fille partnership was last minute and she had been due to Fille with Zucchetti. Despite her success as Lise, she is not in Pigeons (for which she would have seemed ideally suited), she is not in Nutcracker and she is not in Giselle. Perhaps some of us over over reacting to our rune reading and there is a perfectly logical explanation.
  10. Jamesrhblack
    Hint, not hunt and thanks for reminding me that she has also made a debut in Swan Lake. I've not seen her in a full length role as yet but thought she was really strong in Woolf Works...
  11. Jamesrhblack
    http://www.roh.org.uk/productions/giselle-by-peter-wright I'm guessing that the Giselle debut is the clearest hunt yet of who the next female principal dancer is likely to be as this completes a sequence that now includes Beauty,, Don Q, Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty and Two Pigeons....
  12. Jamesrhblack
    Marquez not cast in Giselle (although Salenko is). As she is not in Pigeons or Nutcracker either does anybody else think this means she will be leaving after Romeo and Juliet in the Autumn? I do think it is very sad that her performance schedule has been allowed to wither and although not invariably a favourite of mine I thought her Manon terrific and her Lise absolutely outstanding.
  13. Jamesrhblack
    Really enjoyed this. He is one of my favourite dancers and he speaks so naturally and interestingly.
  14. Jamesrhblack
    Sticking my neck out here re Melissa Hamilton. I have immense admiration for her grit and determination to forge a career against what has seemed hefty odds and salute her courage in moving to Dresden. Whether or not she will return remains to be seen (which I imagine will be determined both by the success of her German venture and whether or not there is a principal position available to her in London). She has always seemed much more successful with contemporary works and consistently to struggle with the classics if what I read on her is to be believed. I have to be honest and say I've not seen her in a major classical role. My question is, does this seeming lack of a technique that will respond fully to the demands of the classics can be traced back to what seems to have been a rather erratic early training experience? Also, watching the ROH clip of her rehearsing Manon with Sibley and Dowell (she and Golding tower over them) I'm struck that she seems to lack a musical response. Sibley is singing away and curving those beautiful arms whilst Hamilton words to the effect of "So do I do that on a 3?" The clip is worth watching though if only to see the magic of Sibley and Dowell as well as Dowell's astonishment at the extremely passionate kiss even in a rehearsal (they had giggled through it the first time) ....
  15. Jamesrhblack
    I recall Ann Jenner's dancing with a lot of affection as The Firebird, Giselle and, particularly, Lise in an unforgettable matinee with Baryshnikov. I was also there the night she danced the Rose Adagio immaculately before collapsing with appendicitis - Brenda Last took over the performance. Unfortunately, I never got to see her dance the complete role (I believe of the other lengths then in in the repertoire she also danced Cinderella and one Juliet). She had a fantastic jump and an exhilaration in movement that was really exciting to watch: in Act 2 of Giselle you really believed she had achieved weightlessness. If I recall correctly she was also one of the team selected by Jérome Robbins for those first Dances at a Gathering performances by the Royal.
  16. Jamesrhblack
    At least Pennefather is getting the R & J broadcast....
  17. Jamesrhblack
    Looking forward to tonight. Astonishing though that with a sold out house and a queue for returns there are no programmes available (and the Amphitheatre restaurant isn't open either). Very pleased I made the effort to read Mrs Dalloway (can't say I enjoyed it much) and to find summaries of Orlando and The Waves online, Impresions of the piece to follow in due course.
  18. Jamesrhblack
    I'm not sure if this should go in casting or promotions, but I wondered if anybody else that thought Salenko's casting in three productions in the first booking period suggests that she wit have a contract of a more permanent nature, essentially as partner to McRae, I'm guessing as a Prinicpal Guest Artist rather than Principal, as the latter would, in theory, imply participation in a wider range of repertoire. Given the repertoire and the casting so far announced I fear that we may be losing Marquez, rarely a favourite but a captivating Lise, who would surely have been obvious casing for Pigeons but is in neither that nor Nutcracker: I'm not sure if the her two R & J's will be valedictory but if she is still here for Giselle I'd predict that those are likely to be so....
  19. Jamesrhblack
    Granted, but she seems to be being taken out of roles (Symphonic. Titania, Tatyana, Sugar Plum) whilst still dancing very well and being treated without much professional respect.
  20. Jamesrhblack
    To be fair, there's no repertoire that would really suit Yanowsky (apart from possibly Monotomes 2) but I'd agree that it is odd to bring in Salenko, excellent as she is, when Matquez is a contract principal and increasingly under employed. The two Juliets and no Pigeons and no Nutcrackers would seem to imply that she may be leaving soon. She's never been a favourite of mine (and yet her Lise has seemed, post Collier, definitive and I've enjoyed her Juliet and Manon) but it doesn't seem a polite way to treat a company principal of more than ten yeat's duration.
  21. Jamesrhblack
    And in Nutcracker too.....
  22. Jamesrhblack
    Just wish he were partnered with Marquez. They were lovely in Don Q and even better in Fille....
  23. Jamesrhblack
    Realistically, Morera as Juliet wasnt going to happen. Naghdi and Hayward to be expected and jolly nice too, as well as Ball. No Romeo for Watson? Thin pickings for Marquez. I'd have thought she would have been a shoe in for Pigeons especially after Lise this time round and she's not in Nutcracker either(and nor is Soares) unless she will be in the second run. Also, given the sheer number of Nutcrackers (and Hamitlon absent and Marquez and Osipova not cast, I'm surprised there is no new Sugar Plum Fairy and with Soares uncast no new Prince either. Reece Clarke anyone?). I'm surmising that no Cope Clara means she may welll not be returning and one could hardly blame her: she has seemed astonishingly undervalued over the years and I would imagine that after her American in Paris success the thought of returning to, essentially, leading the corps is not an appealing one. Delighted to see Heap as Carmen. I thought she was fantastic in DGV last time round, Is Salenko coming on fiull time contract or Principal Guest Artist as partner to MacRae?
  24. Jamesrhblack
    She certainly danced Gisella, also Swan Lake with ABT. There's a You Tube clip of her as Aurora with Manuel Legris, but note sure if it's from a complete performance. For the Royal, she danced the Shades scene from Bayadère as Nikiya but I think that was it.
  25. Jamesrhblack
    The situation seems a little analogous to that of Alessandra Ferri, who, admittedly, did reach principal status, but was regarded as unsuitable for the classical repertoire and had to move to ABT to get her chances there. Of course, she didn't come back, and if it is as a principal that Melissa Hamilton is going to Dresden (indeed, a beautiful house - I had an artist singing there earlier this season and loved both the house and the city) I doubt she would wish to return to the Royal Ballet unless they would promote her on such a return (which also raises the question as to why a Comoany feels that classical experience should be developed by another company to justify such casting by them). Of course, such situations are rarely simple and it's an exciting opportunity for Melissa Hamilton, and I'd think quite a brave decision too (unless repertoire and status made it a no brainier). I have a definite feeling that we will be in for some surprises when the Royal Ballet casting is announced later today. There's a Juliet vacancy for a start now....
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